Heat transfer apparatus with rotating drum

ABSTRACT

A water-cooled, chilling roller drum for absorbing heat from a sheetlike object passing around the roll and wherein the coldest of the cooling water is maintained in contact with the inner surface of the drum by centrifugal force. As the water is heated, it is displaced by cooler, heavier water and moves toward the axis of the rotating drum and is withdrawn from the drum through an exit port that is substantially coaxial with the drum.

United States Patent inventors James Kral, Jr.

Hickory Hills; John G. Meyer; James F. Stoltz, La Grange, 111.

Appl. No. 764,168

Filed Oct. 1, 1968 Patented Jan. 5, 1971 Assignee Western Electric Company, Incorporated New York, N.Y. a corporation of New York 7 HEAT TRANSFER APPARATUS WITH ROTATING DRUM I 1 Claim, 1 Drawing Fig.

[1.5. Cl; 165/89 Int. Cl F28d 11/02 Field 01' Search 165/28, 89;

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,643,099 6/1953 Kinraide 165/89 2,783,977 3/1957 Seanor 3,424,234 1/1969 Laing 165/89 Primary ExaminerMeyer Perlin Attorneys-J1. J. Winegar, R. P. Miller and A. C. Schwarz, Jr.

ABSTRACT: A water-cooled, chilling roller drum for absorbing heat from a sheetlike object passing around the roll and wherein the coldest of the cooling water is maintained in contact with the inner surface of the drum by centrifugal force. As

the water is heated, it is displaced by cooler, heavier water and moves toward the axis of the rotating drum and is withdrawn from the drum through an exit port that is substantially coaxial with the drum.

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ATTORNEY s Ra ma L a WK J. c-.. MEYER d. F. STC/JLT z HEAT TRANSFER APPARATUS WITH ROTATING DRUM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to heat-transfer apparatus and more particularly to a cylindrical, heat-transfer roller drum wherein the most effective heat-transfer liquid is maintained in contact with the inner surface of the drum by centrifugal force.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART In prior heat-transfer drums and particularly cooling drums for continuous sheetlike material, the problem of maintaining the drum in a uniformly cool condition and the problem of removing only the hottest coolant (usually water) has been attempted by various elaborate and 'costly means which have usually been of less than optimum effectiveness. This problem is particularly acute in the vapor deposition of metal electrodes onto dielectric films in the manufacture of capacitors, where the release of the heat of vaporization of the metal has a tendency to soften most common dielectric materials such a polyester films. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to maintain the most thermally effective portions of a heat transfer liquid in contact with the inner surface of a heat transfer drum by simple andinexpensive means.

It is another object of the present invention to maintain the coldest cooling liquid in intimate contact with the inner surface of a chilling roller drum. 7

It is a further object of the present invention to removed from a heat transfer drum only the spent heat transfer liquid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The present invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which shows a partial, cross-sectional view of a water-cooled chilling roller drum having coolant inlets displaced from the axis of the drum and a coolant exit substantially coaxial with the drum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the accompanyingfldrawing, a hollow,

cylindrical, chilling roller drum 1 l is rotatably mounted in two fixed bearings 13. A source of cold water is connected to a fixed support 16 and opens into a hollow annual space 17 which is coaxial with the drum I1 and which is formed by an extension 18 of the drum I1 and a shaped tube 19, fastened securely to the extension 18 to rotate therewith. A liquid seal 20 is placed between the fixed support l6 and the rotating tube 19 to prevent water leakage.

A plurality of entrance ports 21 extend between and permit water to pass from the annular space "to the interior 23 of the drum II. The interior 23 of the drum 11 is normally completely filled with water to minimize splashing and nonlaminar flow of water within the drum II. A frustoconicallyshaped deflector 25 is connected to the drum 11 with its smallest end adjacent the end of the annular space 17 and is positioned between the axis of the roller drum l1 and the entrance ports 2). This deflector 25 is intended to control the flow of the cold water entering through the ports 21 and to guide the cold water away from the axis of the drum 11.

As water passes from the annular space 17 throughthe entrance ports 21, it is deflected outwardly by the defector 25 and thereby is guided toward the inner cylindrical surface 27 of the drum II. A motor 29 and a drive belt 31 rotate the drum 1] and the water contained therein fast enough to impart a significant centrifugal force to the water. Since water above 4 C. expands as it is heated, the coldest water tends to be pushed toward the inner surface 27 of the roller drum ll, displacing warmer water that might otherwise be in contact that inner surface. As heat is transferred from the outer surface 30 of the roller drum ll toward its inner surface 27, the water immediately in contact with that inner surface is heated, and upon being heated, expands and becomes lighter so as to permit its displacement by colder, heavier water. Consequently the water flows in paths substantially as shown by the arrows in the drawing.

The warmer water molecules are continuously displaced by colder, heavier water molecules such that the warmest of the water molecules within the drum ll'norrnally migrate toward the axis of the drum. To remove these unwanted, warm molecules of water from the drum, an exit port 39 at the end of an exit pipe 41 is placed on the axis of the drum and in the center of the deflector 25.

The deflector 25, therefore, prevents water from simply circling from the entrance ports 21 to the exit port 39 without being subjected to the centrifugal force of the rotating drum 11 and without accepting heat from the inner surface 27 of the drum 11.

The exit pipe 41 is stationary and is firmly connected to a stationary drain 45 through which the warm water flows away from the drum 11. The exit pipe 41, although stationary, is supported by the rotating drum 11 at the smaller end of the deflector 25 in such a way as to permit relative rotation between the pipe 41 and the drum 11 and to prevent excessive leakage between the warm water at the exit port 39 and the cold water in the annular space 17.

It is to be understood that he above-described arrangement is simply illustrative of the application of principles of this in vention. Numerous other arrangments may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim: 1. Heat transfer apparatus for cooling continuous sheetlikc material, which comprises:

I a rotatable drum having an annular interior chamber which is relatively free of obstructions to the free laminar flow ofa cooling liquid therein and which'is defined in part by a relatively smooth inner cylindrical surface and said drum, the inner cylindrical surface being engageable by the cooling liquid and said drum also including a relatively smooth outer surface engageable by the shcetlikc material to be cooled; drive means for rotating said drum about its axis of rotation so as to impart a significant centrifugal force to cooling liquid in the annular interior chamber of said drums;

means for continuously introducing a thermally expansiblc cooling liquid of a relatively cool temperature into the annular interior chamber of said drum so as to maintain the chamber substantially full of the cooling liquid;

a frustoconically-shaped defector projecting into the annular interior chamber of said drum so as to guide the relatively cool cooling liquid from an entrance port of said cooling liquid introducing mean into engagement with the inner cylindrical surface of said drum and such that heat is transferred from the sheetlike material and through the drum into the cooling liquid to cause the cooling liquid to expand and to become higher in weight, whereby the cooling liquid initially is maintained adjacent the inner cylindrical surface of said drum by centrifugal force and subsequently is displaced by succeeding relatively colder and heavier cooling liquid radially inward toward the axis of rotation of said drum and means for continuously withdrawing the inwardly displaced. warmed cooling liquid from the annular interior chamber of said drum, said frustoconically-shaped deflector bcing coaxial with the axis of rotation of said drum and having its smallest portion positioned about an exit port of said cooling liquid withdrawing means between the exit port and the entrance port of said cooling liquid introducing means.

L-566-PT UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION ParemNo. 3,55 1 4- Dated nuary 5, 1971 Inventor) Kral-Meyer-Stoltz (Case 1-2-7) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

alumn 1, line 28, "removed" should read --remove-. Column 1 line 51;, "annual" should read --annular--. Column 1, line 68, "2)" should read --2l-. Column 2, line 5, "with" should precede --ths.t--. Column 2, line 19, "cold" should precede "water". Column 2, line 32, "he" should read --the--. Column 2, line 141;, "and" should read --oI'-. Column 2, line 5 "defeotor" should read --defleotor--. Column 2, line 59, "mean" should read --means--. Column 2, line 63, "higher" should read "lighter".

Signed and sealed this 11 th' day of May 1971 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER Attesting Officer Commissioner of Pat 

1. Heat transfer apparatus for cooling continuous sheetlike material, which comprises: a rotatable drum having an annular interior chamber which is relatively free of obstructions to the free laminar flow of a cooling liquid therein and which is defined in part by a relatively smooth inner cylindrical surface and said drum, the inner cylindrical surface being engageable by the cooling liquid and said drum also including a relatively smooth outer surface engageable by the sheetlike material to be cooled; drive means for rotating said drum about its axis of rotation so as to impart a significant centrifugal force to cooling liquid in the annular interior chamber of said drums; means for continuously introducing a thermally expansible cooling liquid of a relatively cool temperature into the annular interior chamber of said drum so as to maintain the chamber substantially full of the cooling liquid; a frustoconically-shaped defector projecting into the annular interior chamber of said drum so as to guide the Relatively cool cooling liquid from an entrance port of said cooling liquid introducing mean into engagement with the inner cylindrical surface of said drum and such that heat is transferred from the sheetlike material and through the drum into the cooling liquid to cause the cooling liquid to expand and to become higher in weight, whereby the cooling liquid initially is maintained adjacent the inner cylindrical surface of said drum by centrifugal force and subsequently is displaced by succeeding relatively colder and heavier cooling liquid radially inward toward the axis of rotation of said drum and means for continuously withdrawing the inwardly displaced, warmed cooling liquid from the annular interior chamber of said drum, said frustoconically-shaped deflector being coaxial with the axis of rotation of said drum and having its smallest portion positioned about an exit port of said cooling liquid withdrawing means between the exit port and the entrance port of said cooling liquid introducing means. 